Though a Westcoaster, my early winters on Earth were spent in Boston. That's me on the right and my sister on the left, before sister #2 arrived. Sittin' on stumps in our hand-me-down jackets from Goodwill. I was one of those kids who would not come inside when I could be playing out in the snow. Snow angels, snow balls, watching snow fall on my eyelashes, tasting snow on my tongue, making tunnels in snow. My adorable sister? Not so much. No matter how many layers she wore, she wanted back IN.

So when it did a rare thing where I live now and snowed this weekend, my inner 4-year-old just had to get out in it! Crazy thing about snow and ice is, when you're a child it's 100% fun! When you have to be an adult (oh really, do I?) and pick up your child in your car and you slide on patch of ice and create damage to your tire rim from slamming into curb - not so fun. Thankfully WE are okay even if car is not.

A note of tree gratitude - thank you for being so glorious! I do not need to take one of you into my home to celebrate the holiday season when you are all around me rooted in your own beauty.

Peace: From the woods a mile or so from my house, I can hear gunshots ricocheting from a local shooting range. That's life's juxtapositions for you and life in a rural area, but every time I hear them when wandering in such pristine beauty, I feel compelled to write the word PEACE in the ground where I am. So I did.